Page 106 of Born into Sin

“You better or your uncles and I will be on the next flight out.”

“I’m not so sure Italy is ready for the Melnikov brothers.”

My dad laughs. “Probably not. His uncle is having a hard enough time being civil to us. If it wasn’t for his wife, I think he would’ve already pulled a gun out.”

I shake my head at him and pat his chest. “He just remembers that you shot his nephew.”

“Yeah, well he deserved it. Dominic’s dad never warmed up to us either, so I guess it’s a family thing.”

“Well, they seem to love me,” I tease, pulling a smile from him.

“How on earth could they not? You’re perfect, always have been.” He cups my hand in his, and I watch his lip ring move with the big smile he’s giving me. “I’ll never forget holding you for the first time. You were so tiny.” He laughs at the memory. “I was so afraid I was going to squeeze you too tightly or accidentally drop you, but you just looked up at me with your big, blue eyes and wrapped your tiny hand around my finger. You weren’t worried at all. You trusted me completely, and I love you just as much now as I did then. Nothing will ever change that, not even marrying a goddamn Italian.”

I give him a wobbly smile and wrap my arms around him in a big hug. “I love you, Dad, and I promise you will never lose me. I’m not going anywhere. We’ll be in different houses, but I’m going to visit so often that you’ll hardly notice it.”

“You better, princess.”

“Can we come in?”

We both turn to see my Uncle Vitaly’s head peeking around the door. “I might have taken a few photos of that sweet moment,” he says, holding up his phone.

“Dad, you’re terrible,” Svetlana says, scooting around him and coming into the room, and then once she’s through, it’s only a matter of seconds before my entire family is barging in with big grins on their faces and my mom is giving me a half-hearted I’m sorry look as she walks over to stand next to my dad. He smiles down at her and pulls her tightly against him.

“They wanted to say hi,” she tells me with a laugh.

I look at my aunts and uncles and cousins and then turn to Svetlana. She just shakes her head and mutters, “This is like our dance recital all over again. We really can’t take them anywhere.”

“Our family was born to stand out, Sveta,” Uncle Vitaly says before pulling me into a hug. “Besides, what are they going to do? It’s not like they can get mad at the bride.”

Uncle Danil hugs me after Aunt Simona and says, “You should have seen him, Nat. He just told the waiters to start handing out wine. You might be saying your vows in front of a bunch of intoxicated people.”

“Oh, come on,” Uncle Vitaly jokes. “Like they weren’t already a little drunk.”

“He’s impossible to keep in line,” Uncle Matvey says when he hugs me. “We just gave up and stopped trying years ago.”

“You look beautiful,” Aunt Alina whispers in my ear. “Dominic’s a good man, and I’m so happy for you two.”

“Thanks, Aunt Alina.” I don’t even bother fighting the tears as I’m passed around to everyone. My cousins are all in tuxes, too, and Yelena and Svetlana look beautiful in their bridesmaid’s dresses. When I get to my brother, I hug him tightly, knowing I’m going to miss the hell out of him.

“Don’t cry, sis. I’m going to come and visit you all the time. Dominic’s house is awesome, and Dario’s been teaching me some new combat moves.”

“He has?”

Sasha gives me his devilish grin. “Dominic told me Dario is really good with close contact knife fighting, so I asked if he’d teach me.”

My brother is beaming as he tells me.

“I can’t believe Mom and Dad agreed.”

He shrugs. “It’s a good skill to learn. Plus, I need to spend time with my brother-in-law and his men. Family bonding and shit.”

I laugh and shake my head. “Just be careful, little brother.”

“Of course, sis.”

When I finally get to Mia, I pull my sister into a tight hug, and even though she’s trying like hell to not show how uncomfortable she is wearing a pink dress, I can still see signs of her discomfort. I’d compromised and let her wear black nail polish and her black Converse All Stars because I like seeing her personality shine through a bit, and she looks cute as hell in them.

“I promise you can change after we’re all done with the photos.”

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